My Favorite Amazon Shopping Hack

Want to save 50% or more on your Amazon purchases? I regularly save a ton on our purchases of VBS craft supplies, educational supplies for home and various other household purchases. It’s quick and easy, and available for tons of different products.

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When an item gets damaged in the warehouse or purchased and returned, Amazon can no longer sell that item as new. Amazon commonly re-sells damaged/returned merchandise and you can save a TON by buying it! The packaging is often damaged, but the contents are typically brand new or show very slight damage. We’re going to call all of the above situations open box items, even though sometimes the boxes haven’t been opened.

Since the discount pricing is only available when there are open box items on hand, this hack is hit-or-miss. I have gotten tons of great deals though (and if we’re being honest, I seriously considered not writing about this because I love finding the deals for myself).

To find open box items, I start by searching for whatever I’m shopping for like normal (for instance, construction paper). I scroll through the results watching for ones that say there are “new and used offers” under “More buying options”.

Once I find a listing that says new & used offers available, I click on the listing.

Next, I click new & used offers so I can see the details of the item available. Amazon will tell you the condition of the item and its packaging, which is really nice!

Notice that there’s a ranking system (good, very good, like new, etc). Amazon will tell you the rank of an item, and give you details on the condition. For instance, the two packages of construction paper above are both in very good condition but one is in the original packaging and one is not. I tend to go for items in their original packaging because I assume the packaging was more beat up if they’ve had to discard it completely. If I like one of the used offers available, I’ll add it to my cart so I don’t lose track of it. Keep in mind there are limited quantities so these may sell out quickly.

There is always the chance that an item won’t meet your expectations and you’ll decide to return it. The good news is that you can return open box items with the same process that you return anything else on Amazon. There’s only been one time that the description of the open box item didn’t meet my expectations when the actual item came. I returned the open box item and purchased a brand new one on Amazon.

There are two times when I do NOT purchase open box items…
1. I do NOT purchase open box if I’m on a tight time frame. Because you aren’t positive what condition the item will be in when it arrives, it’s safest to just order a new item if you don’t have time to spare.
2. I do NOT purchase open box if I can purchase a comparable item new cheaper than the open box brand. Just because it’s marked down doesn’t mean it’s the best deal available. There are definitely times where I don’t buy open box for this reason. You may be able to find a brand new item that’s a different brand for a lower price than the open box, name brand item.

Once you get the hang of shopping open box items on Amazon, you can save a TON! Here are a few of my recent wins…

I got a package of Pacon poster board for our upcoming VBS. The selling price at the time for a new package on Amazon was $32.25. I got an open box package for $13.79 – woohoo! Mind you, it wasn’t in perfect condition… but only the first couple of pieces of posterboard were bent at the edge. The rest of the package looks brand new. Definitely worth the discount!

The open box discount doesn’t just apply to craft supplies. I got my 3 year old a new pair of Keen sandals open box for $10 last week (the retail price of these are ~$50, but they regularly sell for $25ish new on Amazon).

Here’s the link to ALL the open box products Amazon has right now. I am so glad I discovered open box items several years ago. What deals have you gotten on Amazon by purchasing open box?

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